Sly Stone Wins Millions In Lawsuit After Being Nearly Homeless

Legendary funkmeister extraordinaire Sly Stone (pictured left), the former front man of the iconic ’60s/’70s group Sly and the Family Stone (pictured), has struck it rich, after reportedly being awarded $5 million by a Los Angeles jury due to a lawsuit he filed back in 2010 against his ex-manager, Gerald Goldstein, and entertainment attorney, Glenn Stone. The lawsuit accused Stone’s former business associates of diverting and misappropriating royalties that had been owed to him for more than 20 years, according to Yahoo! News.

The 71-year-old vocalist and musician, whose actual name is Sylvester Stewart, was reportedly living in a van, penniless, addicted to cocaine, and with electricity provided by a family in Crenshaw, Calif. According to court documents, Goldstein reportedly talked Stone in to signing over all of his royalties to a company that was handpicked by him for tax reasons. At the time, Stone thought he was making a savvy move that Goldstein sanctioned.

But Stone was dead wrong!

Goldstein wound up conning Stone and a jury agreed.

Meanwhile, Goldstein, a former musician himself and ex-member of the famed ’60s rock band The Strangeloves, has been reportedly living quite large with Stone’s royalties and even invested in a few luxury real estate properties.

Goldstein’s lawyer, Gregory Bodell argued, though, that Stone broke a 1988 agreement that he would revitalize his career and produce new music. The attorney claimed Stone was given millions of dollars during his stint with both Goldstein and Glenn.

However, the jury did not buy Bodell’s argument and voted to award Stone the monies that are due to him.

Nicholas Hornberger, one of Stone’s attorneys, stated after the verdict that his client’s case is a perfect example of how many celebrities are fleeced by the very same people they hire and trust to monitor their interests, “They just wanted to punch this poor guy in the face,” Hornberger said about his client’s former associates.

Stone’s damages were assessed as follows: $2.5 million were to be paid to the musician by Even St. Productions, an entertainment company formed by Glenn and Goldstein, and Goldstein has to dole out $2.45 million to his former client, with Glenn paying more than $50,000 to Stone.